The social network profile of more than 1,2 billion needs server space. Lots of servers. In 2012, Facebook had about 180 petabytes of date. Today, the company with an total assets worth nearly $18 billion, grows by over half a petabyte every 24 hours.

Luleå in the Barents Region plays a vital role in storing your next update or “Like” click. Opened less than a year ago, the giant server hall just outside Luleå, will already soon turn too small.

The second massive server center will be the roughly size of 14 hockey rinks and will cost SEK 1,4 billion (€158 million) to build, reports Swedish Radio. One of the main reasons that made Facebook choose Luleå is the northern climate. Computer servers benefit from the climate in the north by keeping the computers cool.

Last summer, Facebook signed a five-year agreement with the Swedish energy producer Vattenfall AB on renewable electricity providing 100 percent electricity through hydro power from the Lule River for the huge computer center.

The company is closing down its biggest mine in the Kola Peninsula following plummeting raw material prices. Consequences will be dramatic for Zapolyarny, the industrial town located along the border to Norway.